Cutting Up On Bayou Fountain

After years of work and months of waiting, it was finally ribbon cutting weekend on Bayou Fountain.  It was a long time in coming, but it turned out very nice, indeed.

On Saturday, the day before the ribbon cutting, BREC Outdoor Adventure had their first Paddle Up 3 event on Bayou Fountain.  Normally they have to go further afield to do Paddle Up 3, but now there’s a great site right here.  Since we’ve been on the bayou for years, we came out to lead the paddle.  Wouldn’t you know, when we arrived early at the launch, we found a tree had snapped off right across from the deck.  Needless to say, it didn’t last long, and it was fun having a bit of an audience as we quickly dispatched it before heading off downstream with the group.

The Paddle Up 3 group had a great time, and after a quick jaunt upstream to the new geocache on the bayou, we headed out, too, if only for a little while.  Sunday morning, we were back at the launch setting up for the ribbon cutting.  We had our bottle collection, the “grapefruit” ripeness examples, timelapse videos (playing from the newly completely AV kit we’ve assembled for the Paddle-In Movie), and a variety of swanky souvenirs.

Having all manner of BREC staff at the ribbon cutting was quite nice.  We got to talk about a few details about the launch, how it’s working, and what small tweaks could make it even better.  Oh, and of course we talked about the early details of the next paddle launch.  (We’re not to “Is it there yet? Is it there yet? Is it there yet?!?” time, but things are indeed heading that direction.)  And then it was time to cut the ribbon.

After the ribbon was cut, we proceeded to the paddling portion of the program.  With a large continent of paddling-inexperienced kids, the original plan of everyone paddling their own boats while a guide paddled along apparently flew out the window faster than Mike flying off his canoe during a recent work day.  (If you watch one of the recent timelapse videos, an empty canoe suddenly shoots across the bayou at one point — Mike tried to throw a branch just a little too hard, hehe.)  We ended up with a group of visitors in each canoe with one experienced paddler at the back, and that seemed to work.  Everyone enjoyed themselves, and all the boats stayed open side up.

So, we’ve finally had the ribbon cutting for the Highland launch on Bayou Fountain, and BREC Outdoor Adventure has had their first paddle trip on it.  The next launch(es?) are being planned, and we’re getting our heavy tackle together for our next major project: Project ReWard.  Yep, everything is coming along nicely for paddling in Baton Rouge.

There is still space available for our third-annual Paddle-In Movie.  We’ve heard from many people who have told us they’re definitely going to sign up but who haven’t yet done so.  If you’re among that group, click.  Click now!  We’ll be promoting the movie at BREC’s Great Family Campout this weekend (where we’re working the paddling pond), and it’d be a shame for us to run out of tickets before you get yours.  We’ve got the movie all queued up.  The movie dock is getting its newest upgrades.  The themed snacks are being prepared.  The souvenir badges are in work.  All we need is you.  Get your free tickets (including boat reservations, if needed) today!